(Continued from page 64)

of a private equity firm. When Romney chose Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate, Obama said it sealed a longstanding alliance between Romney and congressional Republicans whom Democrats accuse of threatening Medicare, education and spending priorities.
• Democrats also will continue defining Romney's business background in a negative light.
• Since Romney locked up the nomination in April, Obama's team has tried to portray him as a ruthless businessman to a public whom they argue has been hardened by the near economic collapse of 2008. Obama's campaign has pressed Romney to release several years' worth of tax returns, noting that returns he did release showed the ownership of a Swiss bank account and investments in the Cayman Islands, home to common tax shelters. At rallies, the president portrays Romney as someone who would ram through tax cuts for the super wealthy at the expense of the middle class. And Obama's allies have cast Romney as an outsourcer of jobs.
• "The Obama people have been very successful in introducing a counter narrative to Romney. I think a lot of it has stuck," said Tad Devine, a former adviser to John Kerry's 2004 presidential bid who is not affiliated with Obama's campaign.
• To press that case, Obama will frequently deploy his chief attack dog, Vice President Joe Biden, and his attack dog emeritus, former President Bill Clinton. Both will spend the next two months ripping into Romney, and traveling extensively in states where they can help boost the president's standing with white working-class voters, including Ohio, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
• Obama also will dispatch his popular wife, Michelle Obama, to key states as he looks to remind voters of why many voted for him in the past -- they like him -- and assure them that he can relate to the struggles they face.
• With a race this tight, Obama himself isn't likely to let up on Romney.
• Expect to hear the president draw stark differences with the Republican on issues important to Obama's core constituencies by emphasizing his first-term successes as he looks to win support at the margins.
• He announced his support for gay marriage, motivating many young supporters, and made his case to college students that he would fight tooth-and-nail with Congress to keep student loan rates low. When the Supreme Court upheld his sweeping health care reform law, he warned supporters that Romney would work with Congress to dismantle it.
• Eyeing the growing clout of Latino voters, Obama used his executive powers to prevent certain immigrants from being deported and making them eligible for work permits. And with Rust Belt voters in mind, the president talks about the need to end

(Continued on page 66)